Israeli Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (BMS-IL)

Study Extent

Transect walks for Butterfly Monitoring Schemes (BMS) in Europe are usually performed weekly, but here in Israel, we conduct them once every two weeks from the beginning of October to the end of June - to account for the longer activity period of butterflies in Israel, and the impacts of climate change.

Sampling

Transects are divided into 50m sections and range between 300m and 600m in total length. A transect usually covers a single habitat type. The observer counts the number of every butterfly species that can be seen within a 5m range for each section within the transect. As in all other systematic Butterfly Monitoring Schemes (BMS), the entire transect must always be walked (partial transect walks are not recorded). Furthermore, when no butterfly species are seen for the entire transect, the absence event is still recorded using “-s00” standard notation. Special behaviours such as egg laying or drinking nectar as well as butterfly larvae or eggs can be recorded as well.

Quality Control

Every reported record is flagged "forApproval". Record status is changed to "Approved" upon and by expert only. Species out of season or distribution area are flagged for additional verification.

Method steps

1. Selection of location and route of transect is verified by a scientific/principal investigator.
2. On the first visit to a new transect, the observer is guided by an expert along the transect. Note each section is numbered and marked.
3. Start time and weather conditions are recorded first.
4. During transect walk, the observer walks the entire transect and for each section records the count of every butterfly species that can be seen within a 5x5x5m imaginary cube (i.e., within a range of 2.5 m to the sides and 5 m front and above).
5. To avoid errors in abundance calculations, individuals that cannot be identified to the species level are registered either by family or as a predefined complex of two or three similar species.
6. Butterflies seen outside of the 5m range can be recorded by the observer as ‘Extra’ alongside the code of the nearest section (e.g. 5-extra). However, these extra observations are regarded as sporadic data and are never included in the total number of butterflies observed within the controlled transect area.
7. Time ends is recorded.
8. If no butterflies are seen for the entire transect, the observer types "non seen" to ensure that the absence event is still registered. Note this is important later on when modelling butterfly flight curves and abundances taking into consideration all observations events.
9. Observer logs in to the server and types in the data. Absence events are recorded using “-s00” – standard notation.
10. Data is ready for verification by the expert.

Butterflies

1. Lepidoptera
   rank: order

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